Paul Allworthy

After graduating Paul spent a year in Australia working as a care worker and taking on some freelance projects. On returning to Leeds in 2007 he started his first full time graphic design job, and at the same time founded Bonafide Magazine with friend James Griffin, working on the magazine in his spare time.

After two years Paul returned to Australia to work for Actual Size, a Melbourne based company specialising in visual identities. He made the decision in 2011 to give up the security of full time employment to work freelance; Paul now rents his own studio space, working on projects for private clients as well as freelancing for Sneaker Freaker magazine, a dream come true for him, having regularly bought the magazine as a student in Leeds.

Although the first year had its ups and downs, freelancing allowed him to work on a variety of projects and gave more flexibility to work on Bonafide. After securing some financial investment Paul and James were able to scale up distribution of the magazine to more stores and areas of the world. Bonafide now publishes four issues a year with interview features from world renowned artists such as Madlib, DJ Shadow and (MF) Doom.

Paul spent a total of seven years at Leeds Arts University, starting at the age of 16 after his GCSE’s. We asked him what he enjoyed at the University and how this helped him in starting out professionally:

"Those 3 years studying for the BA were some of the most exciting times of my life. I was around inspiring people and made lifelong friends. We were constantly learning and being exposed to new things. It taught me how to approach problems and solve them creatively, which is definitely something I found sets you apart when you get into the working world. It seems a lot of places teach technical skills but the Visual Communications programme teaches you how to think and rationalise what you do."

What are you currently working on?

‘I'm working on a couple of branding jobs for some private clients, a new sports magazine with a strong photography focus called Good Sport, I recently finished the latest Bonafide Magazine and I am now in the planning stages of the next issue.’

Any future ambitions or projects in the pipeline you can tell us about?

‘We want to try to push Bonafide as far as we can take it, there's a lot of work to do. Alongside that I would like to do more work for private clients and take that side of business to the next level, perhaps teaming up with another designer, one who is on the same page, in order to take on bigger projects and eventually even employ staff. A creative agency that incorporates Bonafide as part of its output and potentially work with the same clients that advertise in the magazine would be the ideal.’

This site uses cookies to improve your experience, track the performance of the site and serve targeted advertising. You consent to our cookies if you continue to use the site. To find out more and how to change your cookie settings visit our Cookie Policy.